1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to data processing, and more particularly related to, inter alia, processing data objects in a variety of contexts.
2. Related Art
Patents are becoming more and more important to a business's success, especially in today's global economy. Patents can be viewed as a new type of currency in this global economy because they grant the holder with a right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the patented technology. In some industries, product turnover is fairly rapid. However, core technology, product features, and markets change at a much slower rate. Accordingly, even in fast-moving industries, patents which cover core technology are very valuable at protecting a company's research and development investment for an extended period of time.
Patents are also valuable as revenue generators. In 1993, for example, the revenue generated from patents by U.S. companies was over $60 billion. Fred Warshofsky, The Patent Wars, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1994. These patent revenue dollars are rising each year.
Patents are further valuable because they collectively represent a vast technological database. According to Larry Kahaner's book, Competitive Intelligence, Simon & Schuster, 1996, “More than 75 percent of the information contained in U.S. patents is never released anywhere else.”
More and more corporations are recognizing the value of patents. The number of patents applied for and issued to U.S. companies is increasing every year, especially in fast moving industries such as computer software, telecommunications, and biotechnology. Many international companies have also recognized the value of patents. In fact, foreign companies regularly rank among the leaders in issued U.S. patents.
Yet, for all the heightened awareness being paid to patents in some quarters, patents remain one of the most underutilized assets in a company's portfolio. This is due, at least in significant part, to the fact that patent analysis, whether for purposes of licensing, infringements enforcement, freedom to operate, technical research, product development, etc., is a very difficult, tedious, time consuming, and expensive task, particularly when performed with paper copies of patents. Often times, it is a difficult or even impossible task to simply identify relevant patents. Accordingly, detailed patent related analysis is usually not done, or it is done in an ad hoc, unorganized, incomplete, inefficient, and/or ineffective manner.
It would be very beneficial to have automated tools that aid users in processing and analyzing patent-related information and non-patent related information for making corporate business decisions.